Financial Services Acquisitions in Connecticut

Simplicity Group Holdings has acquired Northeast Brokerage, a New England-based brokerage general agency (BGA) focused on point-of-sale solutions for financial institutions, P&C agencies, and independent advisors. The deal brings partners Rex Cretella, Mark Gage, and Mike Costello into Simplicity's partnership and expands Simplicity's presence in the New England market.

KKR & Co. Inc. has acquired a majority ownership stake in HealthCare Royalty Partners (HCRx), a Stamford-based biopharma royalty acquisition firm. HCRx's CEO Clarke Futch will remain as CEO with a minority interest, and the HCRx team will collaborate with KKR's healthcare platform to expand KKR's life sciences and royalty financing capabilities.

Procyon, an independent registered investment advisory firm, has acquired Wooster Corthell Wealth Management, a Connecticut-based boutique advisory managing about $600 million in client assets. The deal expands Procyon's northeastern footprint and increases its assets under management to roughly $8 billion; Wooster Corthell's Glastonbury office will continue operations with three advisors and five staff joining Procyon's team.

Ondo Finance has acquired Oasis Pro, an SEC-registered broker-dealer, alternative trading system (ATS), and transfer agent, to provide a comprehensive US regulatory infrastructure for tokenized securities. The deal combines Ondo's institutional tokenization technology with Oasis Pro's licenses and team to expand regulated tokenized securities offerings and enable broader market access.

TA Associates has agreed to make a strategic minority investment in Kline Hill Partners to support the firm’s continued growth and scale its team and technology platform. The partnership will deepen Kline Hill’s capabilities in the private equity secondaries and asset/wealth management markets; terms were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close in Q2 2025.

Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union completed a strategic divestment of its DaLand Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) subsidiary, with Capstone Strategic advising on the transaction. The divestment was executed to monetize Nutmeg's investment and reallocate capital toward core business priorities; the buyer was not disclosed in the announcement.

Invst, an Indianapolis-based registered investment advisor, has acquired Stamford-based registered investment advisor NS Capital to combine their retirement-plan capabilities and launch the INVST Unity Pooled Employer Plan (PEP). The deal unites NS Capital's Unity 401(k) PEP and Invst's MyInvst401K PEP to expand retirement offerings, reduce fiduciary burden for employers, and broaden financial wellness services for employees.

Mesirow has acquired Bastion Management, an asset-backed specialty finance lender based in Stamford, Connecticut; the transaction closed December 31, 2024. Bastion will operate within Mesirow Global Investment Management and serve as the platform for Mesirow’s Private Credit – Asset-Backed Lending expansion; Bastion was founded in 2013 and has completed 50+ transactions totaling over $2 billion in commitments.

The Colony Group, a Focus Financial Partners firm, has integrated GYL Financial Synergies in a transaction completed on November 1, 2024, adding more than $6.6 billion in regulatory assets under management and bringing Colony’s office count to 100. The GYL team will join Colony’s institutional practice and former GYL CEO Gerry Goldberg will become a Division President at Colony to help expand advisory and institutional consulting capabilities.

Wealthspire Holdings LLC, parent of Wealthspire Advisors and an NFP company, has acquired Judith Heft & Associates, a women-owned firm providing high-touch lifestyle and bill-pay services to affluent clients. The acquisition expands Wealthspire's holistic wealth and family office offering by adding dedicated lifestyle and bill-pay capabilities to better serve high-net-worth families.

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. has agreed to acquire Battea-Class Action Services, a leading provider of securities class action claims management and settlement recovery services, for approximately $670 million. The deal brings Battea's team of more than 100 employees and its client base of 900+ institutional investors into SS&C to expand the company’s financial recovery and litigation-support capabilities.

HMC Capital Limited (ASX: HMC) has completed the acquisition of StratCap, LLC, a specialist investment management platform focused on mission-critical digital infrastructure assets. HMC said the purchase provides a foundation to establish a large-scale digital infrastructure platform and accelerate StratCap's growth; Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor to StratCap.

Mercer Global Advisors (Mercer Advisors) has acquired Benchmark Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Adviser based in Old Lyme, Connecticut that oversees approximately $412 million in assets for more than 300 primarily high-net-worth clients. The deal expands Mercer’s presence in Connecticut and the Northeast while adding Benchmark’s high-net-worth financial planning and wealth management capabilities to Mercer’s national RIA platform.

Generali Investments Holding S.p.A. (part of Generali Group) has completed its acquisition of Conning Holdings Limited. Cathay Life contributed its ownership in Conning to GIH in exchange for a stake in GIH and will continue a strategic partnership while Conning will operate under its current leadership to accelerate its growth strategy.

iCapital has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mirador, a provider of investment data aggregation and consolidated financial reporting for wealth managers, family offices, endowments, and foundations. The acquisition expands iCapital's data management and reporting capabilities; over 180 Mirador employees are expected to join iCapital. Terms were not disclosed.

Alliant Insurance Services has acquired Newtown, Connecticut-based retirement plan designer and administrator FJC & Associates, adding the firm's team and third-party administration capabilities to Alliant’s Retirement Consulting group. The deal expands Alliant’s retirement consulting footprint in the Northeast and strengthens its TPA and plan-administration capabilities; terms were not disclosed.

Fortress Investment Group invested $130 million in Nassau Financial Group, acquiring a minority non-voting common equity stake (approximately 7.7%) as part of a strategic partnership that closed on September 1, 2023. The deal includes a long-term Investment Management Agreement giving Nassau's insurance subsidiaries access to Fortress' credit strategies; Golden Gate Capital remains Nassau's majority shareholder.

Hunter Point Capital (HPC) has made a passive minority investment in L Catterton to accelerate the growth of L Catterton's new fund platforms, including Private Credit, Impact, and RMB. As part of the strategic partnership, HPC's co-Founder Bennett Goodman will serve as a Strategic Credit Advisor to L Catterton; there will be no change to L Catterton's governance or day-to-day management.

AlphaCore Wealth Advisory, a San Diego–based wealth advisory firm, has acquired Greenwich-based Magnolia Lane Financial Advisors and will open its first East Coast offices in Greenwich, CT and Hilton Head, SC. Magnolia Lane founder Eric Gerster joins AlphaCore as Chief Investment Strategist to help lead the firm's East Coast expansion and investment strategy offerings.

Investcorp has agreed to acquire Marble Point Credit Management LLC, a US-based CLO manager, to expand and scale its global credit platform. The deal will combine Marble Point's roughly $7.8 billion AUM with Investcorp Credit Management to create a larger credit platform (about $22 billion AUM) and strengthen Investcorp's CLO and broadly syndicated loan capabilities.

Simplicity Group has acquired Connecticut-based Daly Brokerage, a full-service wholesaling firm founded in 1997 that specializes in life, annuity and long-term care products. Daly Brokerage becomes the 45th organization to join Simplicity's partnership and founders Kelly Daly and Lori Caiaze have joined Simplicity as partners. The deal expands Simplicity's distribution and wholesaling capabilities for life, annuity and long-term care products.

Advisor Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Infinex Financial Holdings, the holding company of a broker-dealer that supports banks, credit unions and institution-based advisors. Infinex, headquartered in Meriden, Connecticut, oversees roughly $30 billion in client assets and more than 750 financial professionals; the deal expands Advisor Group's presence in the financial institution channel and is subject to FINRA and other regulatory approvals.

Capital Constellation, a group of institutional investors managed by Wafra Inc., acquired a passive minority ownership interest in alternative investment manager Post Road Group. The investment (terms undisclosed) will provide strategic and financial support to help Post Road scale its team, expand product offerings across real estate and corporate credit strategies, and broaden its institutional investor network.

Integrated Specialty Coverages (ISC), a Carlsbad, California-based program administrator, has acquired Northeast National Brokerage (NNB), an MGA based in West Hartford, Connecticut and Medford, Oregon that specializes in excess liability coverage for the petroleum distribution and trucking industries. NNB founder Jack Kramer will continue to lead the business as CEO while ISC intends to apply its data science and AI capabilities to expand and enhance NNB's underwriting programs and transportation offering.

Blue Owl Capital Inc. agreed to acquire Wellfleet Credit Partners LLC from affiliates of Littlejohn & Co., with the transaction expected to close in March 2022. Wellfleet — a CLO-focused credit manager that manages 16 CLOs with over $6.5 billion in AUM — will be integrated into Blue Owl’s Owl Rock division, with Scott McKay and Dennis Talley remaining as lead portfolio managers.

Spouting Rock Asset Management announced an agreement to merge with Old Hill Partners and has formed a new subsidiary, Spouting Rock Alternative Credit, LLC (SR Alternative Credit), to house Old Hill's asset-based lending business. Former Old Hill employees Jeff Haas and Peter Faigl will operate the new subsidiary as it targets asset-based lending opportunities for borrowers seeking $10–50 million in financing and aims to expand Spouting Rock’s private credit capabilities.

Franklin BSP Lending Corporation and Franklin BSP Capital Corporation, BDCs advised by Benefit Street Partners, acquired substantially all equity interests of Encina Equipment Finance, LLC. Encina will remain headquartered in Westport, Connecticut with management, including CEO Rick Matte, continuing to lead the business and retaining a minority stake; the acquisition provides a permanent capital base to support growth of Encina's equipment finance platform across the U.S. and Canada.

ComplySci, a New York–based regulatory technology provider, has acquired National Regulatory Services (NRS), a 30+ year provider of compliance consulting, education and the ComplianceGuardian technology, from Accuity (a LexisNexis Risk Solutions company). The deal combines ComplySci's employee compliance automation platform with NRS' hands-on consulting and training capabilities as part of ComplySci's growth strategy following a $120 million growth equity investment from K1.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (operating as Franklin Templeton) acquired O'Shaughnessy Asset Management (OSAM), a Stamford-based quantitative asset manager and operator of the Canvas custom-indexing platform. The deal brings OSAM's factor-based investing and Canvas custom indexing capabilities — and more than 40 team members — into Franklin Templeton's Product Solutions group to expand its separately managed account (SMA) and customization offerings.

White Oak Global Advisors has acquired Finacity Corporation, a leading global provider of trade finance and receivables securitization solutions. Finacity will operate as a standalone business (to be rebranded White Oak Finacity) with CEO Adrian Katz remaining in place and as a substantive equity holder as White Oak integrates Finacity's capabilities into its asset-based lending platform.

OneDigital Investment Advisors, the RIA subsidiary of OneDigital, has acquired Future Benefits Inc., a Cheshire, Connecticut-based wealth and retirement advisory firm. The deal brings Future Benefits' more than $1 billion in plan and wealth assets (over 400 plans/wealth relationships) into OneDigital's platform; Future Benefits will keep its Cheshire office and operate under OneDigital Investment Advisors' registered advisory.

NFP has acquired Schuster Driscoll, LLC (d/b/a The Schuster Group) and its nonprofit membership platform, TANGO Administrative and Management Services, LLC, in a transaction that closed on December 31, 2020. The acquisition brings nonprofit-focused employee benefits and retirement advisory capabilities based in Farmington, Connecticut into NFP's Northeast region and is intended to expand NFP's services for nonprofit clients. Firm principal Rollin Schuster will join NFP as a managing director.

Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. completed the acquisition of certain assets of THB Asset Management, adding approximately $555 million in equity assets and incorporating THB as its 10th investment franchise. THB will remain in Norwalk, Connecticut, and the transaction expands Victory Capital's capabilities in capacity-constrained small-/micro-cap strategies and adds offshore distribution relationships.

Sixth Street has agreed to acquire Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Company from a consortium of investors led by Cornell Capital and others; the deal was announced on January 20, 2021 and completed on July 1, 2021. The transaction positions Talcott as a platform for consolidation in the U.S. life and annuity market while allowing the company to continue operating under CEO Pete Sannizzaro from its Windsor, Connecticut headquarters.

RegEd announced it has agreed to acquire the ComplianceMAX and FIRE Continuing Education businesses from National Regulatory Services (NRS), a unit of Accuity/RELX. The add-on deal expands RegEd's compliance management, education and training offerings for broker-dealers, insurance companies and investment advisers and is expected to close on January 8, 2021.

Foreside Financial Group acquired the regulatory compliance business of Integrated Compliance Solutions Group (ICSGroup), a Hartford-based compliance services firm focused on asset managers and emerging managers. The add-on expands Foreside's technology-enabled governance, risk and compliance capabilities for hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investment managers; financial terms were not disclosed.

Copley Equity Partners has made a majority investment in Tourmaline Partners, a Stamford-based outsourced trading solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed; the investment will support Tourmaline's technology development and expansion into new geographies and asset classes.

Flexpoint Ford has made a strategic growth investment in TigerRisk Partners, a Stamford-based risk, capital and strategic advisor to the global insurance and reinsurance industry. The transaction will provide TigerRisk with additional capital and Flexpoint's sector expertise to support product, talent and geographic expansion while existing management and employees remain significant shareholders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions acquired ClearStructure Financial Technology to expand its asset management technology suite with private debt portfolio management capabilities. The acquisition integrates ClearStructure's Sentry platform into Broadridge's front-to-back SaaS offering to better serve asset managers, hedge funds and fund administrators seeking private markets functionality.

Integrity Marketing Group has completed the acquisition of Family First Life, an insurance marketing organization headquartered in Uncasville, Connecticut. The deal brings Family First Life's large agent network into Integrity's distribution platform to accelerate growth and better serve the senior life and annuity markets; Family First Life founder Shawn Meaike becomes an owner in Integrity.